Oil and gas fields reside in various onshore, offshore, subsea, and subterranean environments around the world. Typically, extraction of oil and gas from a field begins by drilling a hole (i.e., a wellbore) within the earth that extends from the surface to the field. A casing is subsequently placed within the wellbore to provide structural stability and inhibit collapse. Then, the pressure and flow rate of oil and gas drawn within the wellbore is regulated to draw the oil and gas from the field to the surface.
The casing is often formed from segments (e.g., tubular segments) that are coupled together, end-to-end, by fasteners to form a joint. As an example, the ends of the casing segments can be formed with flanges, and the fasteners can include threaded fasteners such as nuts and bolts. The fasteners exert a clamping or compressive force upon opposing flanges to maintain the casing segments in contact during service and to inhibit relative motion of adjacent, coupled segments.
To ensure that the joint is not degraded by the development of cracks and/or corrosion that may result during use, integrity of the joint is typically examined periodically. Conventional inspection methods involve disassembling the casing segments to examine the fasteners. This can be expensive and/or time-consuming. Furthermore, repeated assembly and disassembly can increase wear on the fasteners and flange connections, reducing their service life.